The hills are challenging to me, but we are not talking rocky mountains here in Austin, TX. It's pretty constant up and down, but no really long climbs. My Garmin said the ride today was around 3,500 ft of climbing, but I don't know how accurate that is (it also said I burned about 3,900 calories, I know that is way off). I didn't realize that lack of food on a ride would contribute to sore legs the next day. Why is that?

I ate on my ride today but must say that my first experience eating a Clif bar was not good. I really struggled to eat 3/4 of it, it was just so rich (choc brownie) and kind of nasty/dry. It was just not the kind of thing I want to eat when it's 90+ degrees out and I'm excercising. I guess I'll try some other flavors or just suck it up. Would I get the same benefit from the gels that some have mentioned or is that for something else? Is the main goal just to get some calories?